The Case of the Broken Hearts
by xChasingFireflies
Summary: Rated for the subject material. Just to be safe. People are dying of broken hearts. But can this case lead to the love between two hunters?


I'll admit, the ending seems some what anti climatic. For that I apologise but I wasn't sure on how to end the piece.

* * *

"_This is so stupid," the young girl sighed as she casually glanced at the scrap yard. What the hell was she thinking? That she needed help and these were the only people who could help her. Taking a shuddering breath to calm her nerves, she finally hauled her ass from the car, which unfortunately had become numb due to her spending several hours debating her desperate plan._

"_You can do this, just explain, they'll understand, they'll remember…" she kept repeating the words over and over as she stood before the door. Taking another deep breath she held it just as was about to knock. She had only just knocked once when the door swung open and a rather albeit handsome but disgruntled face greeted her. _

"_Um, hello, Bobby Singer?" she smiled, now was not the time to show fear, if she wanted help then she was going to have to hide all traces of her fear._

"_Took you long enough," the man before her grunted, though man may not be the right name since he looked to be about her age if not a year or two older. So technically, he was a teenager. _

"_Excuse me?" she titled her head in confusion, she hadn't called to tell him she was on her way, hell she didn't have access to his number._

_The man inclined his head to the car she'd arrived in, "Been watching you, trying to understand what you're doing here," he looked at her hands, "clearly not selling girl scout cookies,"_

_She looked at him incredulously, "I have __**never**__, sold Girl Scout cookies," defensively she crossed her arms over his chest. Clearly this conversation wasn't going well. _

"_So, what are you doing here?" he asked_

"_Are you Bobby Singer?" she asked, she wasn't willing to speak of her intentions until she knew just who she was speaking to._

"_Bobby!" the man shouted, "You got some kid at your door,"_

"_I'm not some kid," she remarked_

"_You, Bobby's?"_

"_Come again?" surely he wasn't asking what she thought he was asking._

_The boy reached out and flicked her forehead, "You got dirt in those ears? I was asking if you were Bobby's kid,"_

_She rubbed at her head pretty sure the boy had left a mark. "No. He knows my parents. I need his help," she finally explained._

"_Are your parent's hunters?" he asked. Clearly not caring who heard him, didn't he understand you had to be careful when using that word? A lot of people tended to react badly to it. _

_She nodded her head, surprised that he knew what a hunter was. He seemed so normal. The boy leaned on the archway carefully looking her up and down. "What's your name?" he asked_

"_Harleigha Armstrong," she answered_

"_Wait, Armstrong? The daughter of Mathew and Lillian Armstrong?" the boy asked, his eyes had lit up. He was clearly interested in what she had to say now. _

"_Um, yeah, do I know you?" Harleigha asked_

"_Not really, my dad knows your dad, I'm Dean Winchester," the boy held his hand to her. She eyed it suspiciously before finally shaking it, her dad had mentioned the Winchesters once before, when he'd talked about them she always heard a note of respect in his voice. _

"_Harleigha," Bobby greeted as he appeared behind Dean, "I hope Dean's not harassing you, he's at the stage when there's only one thing on his mind,"_

"_Bobby," Dean whined, the bad boy posture with the knowledge beyond his age that he had been holding fell apart to reveal the young boy he was in fact still._

"_What's wrong, Harleigha?" Bobby inquired ignoring the whines of the boy beside him_

"_It's my parents, a demon took them," she blurted out, as if holding in the words had been one of the most difficult things she'd done._

"_Harleigha…."_

Huh? She heard her name being called but it was far away. A sharp pain in her forehead however made everything clear.

"Dean," Harleigha growled rubbing her forehead; she wished he'd pick a new place to flick; she was bound to have a dent in her forehead from where he kept flicking.

Dean let out a deep laugh as he took the seat beside her, "Sorry, but you weren't listening to me. What were you thinking about; you had a goofy grin on your face,"

"I do not have a goofy grin," she pouted before taking a long gulp of her drink.

"So…" Dean pressed

"A needle pulling thread," she answered

"Smartass," Dean flicked her forehead again, "What were you thinking about,"

"If you must know I was remembering how we met," she answered rubbing at her head again.

"I remember that day; you were such a stubborn kid," Dean chuckled, "Always trying to get involved with the hunting,"

"If I remember correctly, I wasn't the only one who was left behind, that day." She remarked turning to face him, "Because of your bright idea I ended up being grounded for two months,"

"At least you only got grounded; I had to do survival training," Dean informed her

"I think I would have done the survival training instead of going to my mother's book club,"

"So you think you can handle playing with the big boys?"

"I think I've had a lot of practice with it, I've been hunting with you on and off for ten years,"

"Alright then, when this case is over, me and you, survival training," she heard the last word trailing off. Turning her full attention to Dean she saw he had the lusty stare upon his face, shaking her head she followed his gaze to an overly intoxicated woman dancing topless on the bar. Clearly, her breasts had hypnotized Dean.

"Dean," she nudged his shoulder gently.

"Huh?" he turned to face her

"You've got a little…" she pointed to the side of his mouth, "drool," she laughed as he furiously wiped at his mouth. It was nice to be able to tease Dean every so often, especially when he became so flustered. Running her hands through her hair in an attempt to control the stray strands trying to escape her ponytail, catching something move from the corner of her eye she turned her head to see Sam approaching their table.

"I'm surprised," Sam chuckled looking at Dean, "I was sure you'd be over there trying to get a dance," he inclined his to the bar.

"Honestly Sam, do you think that little of me," Dean placed his hand over his heart with mocked shock.

"Yes," both Harleigha and Sam agreed

"Hey," Dean whined, "I'm the older one here, show me some respect,"

"How about I just buy you pie tomorrow," Harleigha suggested

"Fair enough," he shrugged.

The three laughed among themselves, happily drinking as they remembered the past and just how they came to be a trio of hunters. Harleigha had always thought of the brothers as family but the more time she spent with the Dean the more she realised she felt more for him then just respect. On some occasions, when she felt brave enough, she would even admit that she had come to love him. He had been her childhood crush but now he was more than that to her, her admiration had developed; unfortunately, it was a secret that she had to keep to herself. In this world, the hunter world, love was not allowed. It was deadly.

* * *

Harleigha let out a low groan. That was the last time she was ever drinking. Her head felt like someone was continuously chipping away at her brain with a pneumatic drill. While there was something heavy draped over her waist. Curiously, she lowered her hand, refusing to open her eyes and add more pain to that which she already had. Her fingers trailed along something warm, she followed the warmth upwards…

"That tickles," the warm air across her cheek caused Harleigha to jolt up in bed. She stared wide eyed at the sleeping form of Dean. What the hell happened last night? She pulled the covers back, they were both still fully clothed, so clearly sex hadn't been involved.

"You two decent?" Sam's voice echoed through the door as he knocked.

"Um..." Harleigha called out, unsure just how to answer the question.

"I'm coming in," Sam entered the room and cast Harleigha his award winning smile. Apparently she and his brother sharing a bed didn't faze him at all, that was a good thing since she was freaking out.

"Sam, what happened last night?" she asked in a harsh whispered

"You got drunk and passed out," Dean grunted out as he rolled over.

"Oh. That explains one question, why are you in my bed?"

"I saw you looking so peaceful and I didn't want anyone to take advantage of you so I stayed. I thought it was a nice gesture. I-"

"He passed out as well, thankfully after he got you to bed," Sam interrupted.

"Sounds plausible," she shrugged, it wasn't that she didn't think Dean could be a gentlemen, she knew he could when he wanted to be, however spending as much time as she did with him almost meant she could tell when he was lying and since he liked to spend his time teasing her, she suspected being gentlemanly towards her last night was the last thing on his mind. Honestly, she should be thankful she hadn't awakened with crude permanent marker drawings on her face.

"What's up Sam?" Dean asked graciously taking the coffee his brother had brought and swigging large gulps down, oblivious to the steam rising from the cup.

"Case," Sam answered throwing a newspaper at the pair. They skimmed through the page with the suspect case on it. From the looks of things it sounded like the man had just died of a heart attack.

"What's so supernatural about this?" Dean enquired.

"You have to see the body," was all Sam said before departing. Harleigha and Dean shared a small look before both clambering out of the bed towards the bathroom, neither wanting to be the one who had a shower with cold water.

"I'm oldest,"

"I'm cuter,"

"Age before beauty,"

"I'm a woman,"

"I'm the leader,"

"I deserve it,"

"I deserve it more,"

"Do not,"

"Do too,"

The two continued to bicker and argue over the privilege of hot water for a good half an hour before Dean remembered he had his own room. Unfortunately, their little debacle cost them both the joy of a hot shower.

* * *

"How is that even possible?" Dean asked, he lifted his finger to prod into the man's chest cavity. Harleigha immediately slapped it away.

"Don't prod," she hissed into his ear

"But look at it," Dean leaned closer, "How?"

Why was he asking her? Harleigha let out a small sigh, this was the reason they were in this town in the first place, to find out how this was happening and what was causing it. Though the man show no signs of being attacked on the outside, the inside was different, all organs were in perfect condition except his heart which looked like some had broken it…quite literally. It was in little jagged pieces, the type you'd see when you hit something frozen with a hammer.

"So what did he die of?" Dean asked picking up one of the jagged pieces and examining it. She watched him squeeze it between his thumb and index finger; it didn't have the consistency of something breakable. In fact the best way to describe what was held in his hand was squishy. Harleigha couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be small ice crystals on the pieces, for the time being she decided to keep that information to herself, no need to draw attention.

Harleigha couldn't help but face palm at the question Dean Winchester asked. Clearly the man had left his intelligence at home today. The coroner looked up at Dean with a raised eyebrow. Harleigha would not blame the man if his response was caked in sarcasm; Lord knows she couldn't have given Dean a straight laced answer.

"A broken heart," the coroner answered without missing a beat. Bless him, he was very professional.

"How?" Dean asked

"That agent, I will leave up to you to discover," the coroner handed the file to Dean before proceeding with the autopsy they had just interrupted. Harleigha turned away in disgust, happy for once she'd missed breakfast because they were in a hurry. She looked up to see Dean starring at the body, clearly not fazed by the procedure. He looked down at her, a knowing smirk on his face.

"Move," she commanded shoving him towards the day because he could make any sort of retort or disgusting commentary of what was happening behind her.

* * *

"Well this is useless," Dean growled throwing yet another book across the room, "We've been through everything from demons to water spirits,"

"I still don't see the point of water spirits," Harleigha remarked as her eyes skimmed over the book in her hands

"Cause clearly something froze his heart," Dean answered with a smug grin. Harleigha looked up with a raised eyebrow, not exactly the answer she was looking for, now if he'd mentioned the ice crystals she'd have given him some points. Standing up she stretched out her back before heading to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Dean asked

"To pee," she answered, "Five cups of coffee and no bathroom break for half the day makes ones bladder feel like it's going to burst," she sent him a cocky grin, "Don't worry, I ain't running away. Lord knows you two idjits couldn't solve this case without me,"

Once in the bathroom, she could hear Dean marking some smart arse remark, though it was muffled by the shut door. Breathing a sigh of relief from actually moving around, she spotted Dean's shirt on the floor. A stupid idea came to mind as she began stripping. Time he got teased a little.

"Come on Sammy, use that degree, figure out what's causing this," Dean demanded starring at his brother, unconsciously he began rubbing at his chest.

"I don't know Dean," Sam answered with a sigh.

"Come on Sammy,"

Dean and Sam turned around to see Harleigha stood in the doorway, no longer in her Jeans and t-shirt, she was wearing Dean's shirt.

"Sammy, go get me pie," she lowered her voice trying to mimic Dean's

"Haha, very funny," Dean folded his arms clearly not impressed

"No time for jokes, must hunt," Harleigha answered

"I don't sound like that,"

"You do a little," Sam laughed

"Stop it," Dean growled

"I'm Dean Winchester, I only like four things in life; sex, booze, hunting and pie," Harleigha couldn't keep it up, suddenly she doubled over laughing, "I'm sorry Dean, but the look on your face was worth it,"

"No pie for you," Dean remarked, causing Harleigha and Sam to laugh harder.

"Hey Dean," Harleigha wiped the tears from her eyes, "Can I keep the shirt, I have the perfect idea to turn it into a dress,"

"Don't you dare…" Dean threatened

"Come on, a leather belt around here, some embroidering here, perhaps some fills. Oh, I could even tie-dye it," a large smile graced her features as she watched Dean's left eye beginning to tick. It was fun to be the teasing one.

"I hate you," Dean let out a low grunt and rubbed his chest, from the looks of it, Harleigha's teasing had given him heart burn.

"Admit it, you love me," she gently prodded his side.

"Yes…like a sister," he groaned again.

"You okay?" Harleigha asked, a look of concern crossing her features. She placed her hand on his back and gently began rubbing it.

"Peachy," he answered, "Your threats about destroying my wardrobe just gave me a heart attack,"

"Don't be so over dramatic; anyway, they weren't threats, they were promises," hearing him groan again she lead him towards the bed, "Are you sure you're okay?"

Dean nodded his head. He wouldn't admit that the sigh of her in his shirt made her look cute, the knowing that when she took it off and would still hold his scent upon her flesh made him happy. But with that thought, came the desire to rip his shirt off her and examine every inch of her. However, he'd promised himself that he wouldn't treat her like he did all the others, she deserved better, deserved something other than the hunter life no matter how good she was at it.

"Huh?" he looked up to see Harleigha leaning close to him, her hand gently resting on his forehead. Clearly she'd been talking to him, too bad his thoughts hand been other places. He gaze travelled away from her eyes to her exposed legs, painfully he gripped his knees keeping his hands to himself, if he move it just a little then he could stroke the flesh, see if it was just as soft as it seemed. '_Down boy'_ he growled mentally feeling the familiar twitching, why was this so hard now? Usually he could keep control of himself but something was different this time.

"Dean," Harleigha repeated, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he grunted, "I'm going out, I need a drink," he shoved his way passed her, grabbed his coat and left.

Harleigha pursed her lips together, she knew something was wrong. '_Damn that man, why the hell does he do this_.' She thought, '_He really needs to get over this macho bullshit and start asking people for help_.'

"Sam we need to solve this and quick," she said picking up the book that Dean had thrown

"You have any idea of where to look?" Sam asked

She stared at the book in her hand, maybe they were looking in the wrong place. Her eyes glanced over the books, before landing on a newspaper. One of the headlines caught her attention, **'TRADGETY'. **Was it possible?

"What if it's a ghost?" she wondered out loud.

"A ghost?" Sam repeated, "Could explain why we're not finding anything in the books,"

"Yes. Think about it, we've seen ghosts do several crazy things from possession to ripping people's hearts of to making them disappear." She explained, "Is it possible, a ghost is responsible for this,"

"It is, but then the question is whom and why?"

Harleigha picked up the newspaper on the counter. It was dated several weeks ago, a week before the first death. It was about the sudden death of a young woman.

"Cassandra Adams?" Sam read out, "Why her?"

"Read this…" she pointed to a single sentence.

"Died from a broken heart," Sam read, "I don't understand,"

"The hearts," Harleigha explained, "They were in pieces. As if someone broke them. We need to talk to everyone who knew the victims and who knew her. I'm pretty sure if we do, we'll have an explanation."

* * *

"I expected it from those two idjits, but not from you Harleigha," Bobby chastised down the phone. Harleigha bit her lip trying to hold back the sigh. She had just relayed all the information she and Sam had gathered to Bobby because despite all that they now knew they were no closer to the answers. Bobby of course came through and Harleigha was finally beginning to understand.

"She's literally giving them broken hearts," she muttered half to Bobby, half to herself, "She makes them confess and when the love is unrequited it kills them. She freezes their hearts and shatters them. She's inflicted the pain she felt,"

"Exactly and from the sounds of things, it looks like she'd latched on to Dean,"

"Why-never mind, I have a good idea as to why she chose him," Harleigha tried to keep the disappointment from her voice, most likely it was Lisa Dean wanted to confess his feelings too. Not her. Why would it ever be her?

"I suggest you split up, one of you goes looking for Dean, the other goes looking for the ghost," Bobby instructed.

"On it, thanks Bobby," she hung up the phone and turned to Sam, "You go after Little-Miss-Heartbreak and I'll look for Dean," she instructed.

"Why me?" Sam questioned, "I went after the last ghost,"

Turning to face the younger brother Harleigha took a deep breath, "Because, I match the victimology, if I go after her, whatever whammy she's using will be directed to me. And quite frankly, though I'm well aware of my love is unrequited, I don't feel like dying of a broken heart because of it,"

"Harleigha…"

She held her hand up, "I don't need your pity Sam, I accepted this a long time ago and I'm okay with it," she gave him a weak smile, "Now let's go finish this hunt before we get so emotional we can't see the ghost through the tears,"

* * *

Dean sat in the bar nursing his beer. He didn't dare down this one like he had the other fours not since the voice started whispering to him.

'_Tell her'_ it said over and over again _'she deserves to know the truth'_

At first he'd tried talking to the voice, discreetly of course, but when he began to acquire strange looks from people around him he decided his best option was to shut up and drink. Unfortunately, that plan turn out to be a bad one, his inhibitions were lowering making listening to the voice a tempting idea.

'_You'll feel better after you tell her,'_

He shook his hand though he hand reached for his cell phone.

'_It's just a broken heart'_

"Harleigha we need to talk," Dean whispered into the phone, "Meet me at the motel,"

'_Tell her everything. Tell her about the love you hold'_

Dean didn't answer the voice; he stumbled from his chair and staggered across the bar. The voice was right, he needed to tell Harleigha how he felt.

* * *

She stared at the door to their motel room, did she really want to hear what Dean had to say, it sounded like they were going to have a chick flick moment. Did she want to deal with chick Dean? It was bad enough dealing with normal Dean some days.

"Suck it up, Harleigha," she told herself.

Taking a deep breath for courage since she didn't have any alcohol on her she pushed open the door. Dean was sat on the edge of the bed waiting for her, clearly she'd interrupted some sort of conversation he'd been having.

"What's up Dean?" she asked her eyes slowly scanning the room for signs of any unwanted guests.

"We have to talk," he stood and took a few steps towards her.

"Sounds serious, what's wrong?"

"I lo-"

"Don't," she placed her hand over his mouth, "Don't finish that sentence," so she had been right, Dean had been infected by the ghost, but why not her?

'_Tell him'_

Her body stiffened as she heard the voice, let a bitter wind the breath that washed over her face stung. Yet she found it oddly compelling. Oh God. Did that mean she was infected? Had the ghost realised she'd be the better target? Her teeth bit onto her lip as she tried desperately to keep the words at bay.

'_Tell him'_ the words came out in a harsh whisper but held a distinct seductiveness to them. It was almost impossible not to confess. Harleigha swallowed the words down once more, she had to make a choice. If she kept fighting then the ghost may turn her attention back to Dean. Either way it wanted one of them dead.

"Together," Harleigha whispered, "We say the words together,"

"Harleigha," Dean's voice was low as he stared at her. Did she understand what she was asking? He'd come so close to confessing and now that he had the power to stave the words off she wanted to hear them.

"Please," she requested. She was ready; at least if she died of a broken heart there would be no secrets between them. "I'm ready,"

"Okay, but this is the only chick flick moment, I'm having," he grumbled

"And I forgot my camera," she joked

"You tell anyone and I'll leave your ass,"

"Your secret's safe with me," she promised, "Count of three. One. Two-"

"Just so I'm clear after you say three we confess?"

"Yes, after three. One. Two. Three."

There was a second of silence before they spoke in unison, the exact same words leaving their lips. "I love you". At first they though that the other had tricked them, held back, but they each other a little better than that. The heartbreak, the unrequited love that had been promised wasn't there. All that they felt was mutual.

A high pitched scream sounded behind them, Dean and Harleigha turned to see the ghost who had been committed take corporal form.

"No" she wailed, "You're love shouldn't be requited,"

Harleigha let out a small sigh, she could understand the ghost's pain, but that didn't mean she'd forgive her for killing innocent people.

"I'm sorry that the man you loved didn't love you back, but that's no reason to go around taking your revenge on innocent people," she stated

"They weren't innocent. They were in love and they hid it from the people who needed to know. Their pain was their own fault," the ghost screamed

Harleigha had to admit this ghost was not making any sense, her ramblings were almost childlike. In a way she did feel sorry for her but she was still a hunter and that meant she had to stop her. Taking a deep breath she moved away from Dean and towards the ghost once more.

"I'm sorry, but you need to leave, you're time here is over," she said trying desperately to keep the emotion from her voice.

"No, I will make you suffer, you don't deserve happiness," the ghost screeched her features becoming distorted as she lunged at Harleigha.

"Look out," Dean pushed her to the side laying his body on top of her s to shield her from the ghost, "You okay?"

"Little bruised, but alive," she answered, "You?"

"Pretty comfortable actually," he smirked, "If that ghost wasn't trying to kill us, I could think of a few enjoyable things we might be able to to do int this position,"

"Not now," Harleigha moaned attempting to push him off her

"Later then?"

"Yes, later. Now, ghost,"

The two clambered back to their feet as the ghost turned around. She stretched her hands out; she would teach them for falling in love. If they wanted to be together, she'd make sure they'd be together forever, A bitter chill passed through Harleigha and she hunched over clutching her chest. Dean tried to call out for her but it felt as if someone was trying to rip his heart apart.

"You love each other so, you can be together forever," the ghost cackled. The room began to get colder as the two hunters fought against the pains in their chests. Why hadn't they left a shotgun loaded with rock salt out? Harleigha felt her knees buckle as she felt to the ground, a metallic taste forming in her mouth.

"Har…leigh….a" Dean gasped out reaching for her hand. He should be protecting her, not dying at the hands of a ghost.

"Dean," she weakly grasped his hand, squeezing it with all the strength she could muster. It was so unfair, they had only just learnt the truth and now they were going to die without ever knowing if they could make a relationship work.

Whether it was the acceptance of each other or the fact Sam had found the body and burnt it, the ghost before them began to burn. Their pain was lessening and the cold wind that had been so bitter was returning to the normal temperature of the room. Both hunters clambered to their feet as once last shrill echoed through the room.

"Harleigha?" Dean asked making sure she was okay, he reached up to wipe away the small trail of blood from the corner of her mouth.

"Dean," she whispered, so many years of wondering of fearing that she would always have to hide the secret of how she felt and in the end she had nothing to worry about.

"So, about those things we discussed?"

"Sam will be back soon,"

"We have time," he pulled her towards him. His lips covered hers. The kiss started soft but the longer they stayed connected the deeper it got. She leaned flushed against him as he he guided her towards the bed.

They didn't have very long to make up for the years they missed out on, but they did plan to make what time they could have together special.


End file.
